Abstract
In this paper I shed light on the connection between respect, trust and patients’ satisfaction with their medical care. Using data collected in interviews with 49 women who had managed, or were in the process of managing, their risk of ovarian cancer using prophylactic surgery or ovarian screening, I examine their reported dissatisfaction with medical encounters. I argue that although many study participants appeared to mistrust their healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) motives or knowledge base, their dissatisfaction arose not from a lack of trust, but from HCPs’ failure to treat them as persons or take their concerns seriously. I conclude by describing how respect, as evidenced by “being taken seriously”, is important for the development of trusting Patient–HCP relationships.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all of the women who took part in this research, without whom this project would never have happened. Special thanks go to Julia Lawton whose proof-reading skills and insightful comments have been invaluable. I would also like to thank Raymond De Vries for inviting me to contribute to this special issue and for his editorial suggestions, and those of the reviewers, which have undoubtedly improved this paper. Thank you to: the Steering Committee of the UKCCCR Familial Ovarian Cancer Register, Carole Pye, and Amy Storffer-Isser, the staff at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal Marsden Hospitals particularly, Laura Hitchcock, Karen Cook, Karen Sibley, Ian Jacobs, Audrey Ardern-Jones, Ros Eeles, Chris Haracopus, Martin Gore and James McKay. This research was supported by a grant from WellBeing RCOG (Grant No: HI/97) awarded to Nina Hallowell, James Mackay, Martin Gore, Martin Richards and Ian Jacobs. The assistance of these co-investigators is gratefully acknowledged.
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Hallowell, N. Encounters with medical professionals: a crisis of trust or matter of respect?. Med Health Care and Philos 11, 427–437 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-008-9156-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-008-9156-9